


Tooka in the Rain

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Babysitting, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Holovid (Star Wars), Jealousy, Pets, Post-Canon, Post-RotJ, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, post-epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 11:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18827929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: I've always loved the idea of Rex babysitting Jacen, so here's a little story based on that idea!





	Tooka in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I've always loved the idea of Rex babysitting Jacen, so here's a little story based on that idea!

“Remember, his bedtime is at eight,” Hera said as she was almost out the door of her home. “There’s plenty of food in the fridge if he needs snacks at all, and you should be able to make pretty much whatever you want for dinner. He’ll need dinner soon, actually, he had an early lunch so he’s probably hungry right now. He’s not that picky, but-”

“I’ve watched him before, General,” Rex interrupted. “I know. We’ll be fine.”

Hera nodded, and smiled at him. “Right, right,” she started to turn back around to open the door, but then stopped. “Oh, and his new tooka- she needs fed at seven. Her food is in the cabinet under the sink. I have it in little bags with the exact amount she needs, so you don’t need to measure anything, just put it in her bowl- it’s against the wall by the kitchen table. Jacen has been pretty good with remembering, but in case he forgets, you’ll have to do it.”

“Alright, sounds easy enough. Now go, don’t be late.”

Hera smiled at him. “Alright, I’m going. Bye, Rex, tell Jacen I said bye too,” she said.

“Goodbye,” Rex said with a wave.

Hera stepped out, tucking her bag under her jacket to protect it from Yavin IV’s heavy rain pouring outside. The door closed behind her, and Rex walked back to Jacen’s room, and through the open door saw him sitting next to Aola, telling her a story. Rex knocked twice on the doorframe to get their attention. Jacen looked up and grinned at him, hopping off his bed and hugging him.

“Uncle Rex!”

Rex laughed. “Hey, kid. Your mom just left. She told me to tell you she said goodbye.”

Jacen nodded, and then pointed to the purple tooka sitting on the bed. “Have you met Aola?”

Rex smiled and reached over to pet her, but Aola hissed at him and snapped at his fingers. Rex jerked his hand back, and Jacen gasped in shock.

“Aola!” he scolded, scooping her up in his arms. “Be nice!”

Rex shook his head. “Eh, that’s alright. What do you want to do tonight, Jacen?”

Jacen shrugged, sitting back down on his bed with Aola on his lap. He started petting her head, but the tooka still just stared at Rex with her beady eyes.

“I don’t know.”

“You hungry? We could eat dinner and then figure something out.”

Jacen stopped petting Aola and tilted his head, considering Rex’s proposition for a few moments.

“Okay!”

“What do you want for dinner, then?” Rex asked.

“Space waffles!” Jacen said immediately. Rex laughed.

“I don’t think your mom would like it if I gave you space waffles for dinner.”

Jacen stuck his lower lip out in a pout, and Rex shook his head.

“But I guess it can be our secret, huh?”

Jacen beamed, and Rex ruffled his green hair. “It’ll be a little bit, let me go make them.”

“Thank you, Uncle Rex!” Jacen said, setting Aola aside to hug him. Rex squeezed him, earning joyous giggles.

“I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

* * *

 

Jacen practically bounced into the kitchen once Rex called him, still holding Aola in his arms. The plate of waffles was steaming on the table. Jacen sat down in front of his plate, and sat Aola on the floor. Rex sat across from him, resting his arms on the table. Jacen dug in gleefully, eating so quickly that Rex was sure he’d be wearing more waffles than he ate by the end of the meal.

“So,” Rex asked. “Got any more ideas about what to do today?”

Jacen swallowed a bite. His mouth was surrounded by crumbs sticking to his face. “We could watch a holo,” he said, before returning to his plate.

“Yeah? What holos you got?”

Jacen pointed with his fork to a shelf on the wall in the living room, accidentally flinging a chunk of waffle onto the floor. Immediately, Aola lept from her chair and lunged at the food, gobbling it up before climbing back up the chair to sit next to Jacen. Rex laughed and shook his head.

“You got a little duststat here, huh?” Without thinking, he reached across to pet Aola, pulling back when she hissed at him again.

“Fine, I’ll just go pick a holo,” Rex said. He walked around the table into the living room, and started looking over the shelf in front of the window. Through the window, he could see the rain still pouring down outside. As he returned his attention to the shelf of holovids, he guessed that most of them were Hera’s- old war dramas, pilot and ship documentaries, and a rom-com, surprisingly enough- but there were a couple of kids holos there for Jacen too. Rex picked the first one he saw, and walked over to Jacen with the disk.

“How about this one?”

Jacen finished his waffles, and nodded eagerly. “Yep! I’ll put it in!”

Jacen got out of his seat and took the disk from Rex, and went to the living room with Aola following right at his heels. Jacen carefully put the disk in the holoprojector, and slid his small hands over it to find the button that turns it on.

Rex took Jacen’s plate and fork, and set them in the sink. Blue light glowed from the living room, and he looked over to see the menu of the movie floating in the air. Jacen jumped onto the couch, and Aola immediately curled up next to him.

Rex heard something wheeling across the floor, and saw Chopper roll himself into the kitchen. Rex bent down and patted the top of Chopper.

“Was wondering when you’d turn up.”

Chopper warbled something dismissively and rolled to the living room, up to the couch that Jacen was sitting on. One of his mechanical arms poked out from his head, and he reached for Jacen, who was scratching behind Aola’s tall ears. Aola lifted her head up and growled at him, batting at the claw at the end of the arm. Jacen just laughed, but Chopper grumbled and retracted his arm. He scooted over a little bit, and extended an arm to pat Jacen with. Jacen gave Chopper a placating tap, and then returned to petting Aola.

Chopper grumbled and nudged the couch impatiently. Jacen patted him again absentmindedly, but his focus was still on Aola. Chopper let out a sad  _ wop-wah _ and rolled himself out. Rex shook his head, and sat down on the couch next to Jacen.

“Ready to start?”

Jacen nodded, and Rex started the holovid.

* * *

 

By the time the holo was over Jacen was asleep under Rex’s arm, and Aola had jumped off the couch and ran off somewhere in the house. Rex himself was nodding off too, between the pouring rain against the roof of the Syndulla home and the snoring child cuddled up with him, it was like he was being lulled asleep. He looked at the clock, and nudged Jacen.

“Hey, kid, it’s seven thirty.”

Jacen yawned and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Some pieces of his hair were sticking straight up.

“It’s what?”

“It’s seven thirty.”

Jacen blinked, looking blankly at Rex, before waking up a bit. “Oh!”

He got up off the couch, and went to the sink. He opened one of the cabinets underneath, and pulled out one of the bags of food. He emptied the bag into the bowl on the floor.

“Aola!” Jacen called. “Aola!”

Rex, still sitting half-asleep on the couch, waited for the patter of feet across the floor to come into the kitchen, but it never did.

“Aola, where are you?” Jacen asked. He threw the plastic bag in the trashcan and started down the hall, towards his room. Rex’s eyes slowly fell closed, and he hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep at all until he was shaken awake. The green-haired boy shaking him was sniffling, and his eyes were rimmed in red.

“Uncle Rex, I can’t find Aola!” Jacen cried.

Rex blinked and shook his head. “You can’t find her?”

Jacen shook his head frantically. “No, she’s gone!”

Rex looked at the clock. It was eight, which meant Jacen had to go to bed.

“Okay, okay,” Rex said. “I’ll find her, I promise. You go to bed.”

“I don’t wanna go to bed,” Jacen protested. “I wanna find Aola.”

Rex scooped Jacen into his arms and stood up. He was certainly a lot bigger than he was as a baby, but it didn’t mean Rex had any trouble carrying him.

“I’ll find her, kid, but you gotta get some rest, okay?”

Rex carried Jacen back to his room, and sat him on his bed. He smoothed a hand over Jacen’s hair.

“Don’t worry about Aola, I’m sure she’s fine.”

Jacen nodded, still sniffling. “Do you think she’s mad at me?”

Rex raised an eyebrow. “Mad at you? Why would she be mad at you?”

“I didn’t feed her,” Jacen said, a new stream of tears emerging from his eyes.

Rex shook his head, and hugged Jacen. “That’s not it. She’s probably just hiding somewhere. I’ll find her, okay? Get some sleep.”

Jacen nodded reluctantly, and laid his head down on his pillow. He was still in his clothes, but Rex decided pushing that wouldn’t be worth it. Rex started to leave his room, and he reached for the lightswitch, and Chopper rolled in the door. Rex smiled.

“See, Chopper is here for you.”

Jacen laughed tearfully, and when Chopper extended an arm up to him, Jacen took it in his hand.

“Don’t stay up late, Jacen. I’ll go look for Aola.”

Rex turned the lights off of Jacen’s room, and closed the door. He sighed to himself, and started looking for the tooka that didn’t even like him.

He started looking under laundry baskets, behind the washer and dryer, and in various cabinets, but he could find no trace of Aola anywhere. He lost track of time checking and double checking and triple every nook and cranny in the Syndulla house, but there was nothing he could find anywhere. Rex ran an exasperated hand over his head with a huff- he had to find the damn thing, he couldn’t let Hera down after she trusted him babysitting, or see the heartbreak on Jacen’s face when he told him his cat was gone.

He felt a bump on the back of his leg, and looked down.

“Chop, you have any idea where that cat is?”

Chopper warbled back to him.

“Yeah, I know Jacen is upset, that’s why we gotta find her.”

Chopper’s next grumbles sounded almost… guilty. Rex raised an eyebrow.

“Chopper, what did you do?”

Chopper quickly rolled to the back door, and pointed out of it. Rex glared at him, and then looked out into the rain.

“You are unbelievable,” Rex said.

Chopper quickly tried to defend himself, and Rex shook his head.

“I don’t care that she took Jacen’s time! You should know better, Chop.”

Rex opened the door slowly. The rain was pouring outside, and Rex poked his head out, feeling it on his skin and in his beard. He looked around quickly, the light from inside glowing outside. He stepped back inside and quickly walked to the living room. He took a flashlight out of a drawer and walked back outside, poking around outside, sighing in relief when he finally saw Aola.

The colorful tooka was curled up against the wall, soaking wet and shivering but still very much okay. Rex slowly approached her.

“Hey, you gonna let me take you inside?”

Aola didn’t move, but she did look up at him. When Rex cautiously reached for her to pick her up, she let him. Rex felt the water soak into his shirt as he carried her inside slowly. Chopper wheeled over to Rex, but Rex stepped around him and carried Aola into the bathroom. Rex took a towel and started to dry her off, and she purred as he did so. Rex snorted.

“You like me now, huh?”

She let out a happy meowing sound as Rex dried her until her fur was just a little bit damp. He sat her down on the floor, and she quickly skittered over to the kitchen, and started chomping down the food in her bowl. Rex watched her eat, and then picked her up again when she was done. Aola nuzzled her head against his chest as he carried her back to Jacen’s room. Rex knocked on the door before opening it, and turned the lights on. Jacen was under his blankets, and Rex could hear him sniffling.

“Jacen, look who I found,” Rex said. Jacen sat up, and smiled wide when he saw her.

“Aola!”

The tooka jumped out of Rex’s arms onto Jacen’s bed, and he hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m so sorry,” Jacen said. “I’ll never feed you late again!”

Rex shook his head, and Chopper wheeled into the room. Jacen smiled at Chopper.

“Did you help?”

Chopper turned his head to Rex, and let out a nervous shaking sound. Rex nodded hesitantly.

“Yes, Chopper helped,”

Jacen grinned and pet Chopper, earning him a purr from the droid. “Thank you Chopper!” Jacen said. “Thank you, Uncle Rex!”

Rex nodded. “Mmhmm. Now, it’s past your bedtime, so you better get some sleep.”

Jacen nodded back to him, and laid down, snuggling up with Aola. Rex turned the lights off, and stepped outside the room.

* * *

 

Hera got home late, hanging her jacket up and drying herself as best she could. Rex hugged her once she was dry.

“Welcome home,” he said. “How was dinner?”

Hera smiled. “It was great. Shara was showing me some pictures of Poe- he looks just like Kes. Sorry I took so long, the restaurant was busy and we all wound up talking forever,” she said. “Everything go okay here?”

“Yeah, perfect,” Rex answered. “Jacen is in bed now, and Aola and Chopper are both in there with him.”

“Good, good,” Hera nodded. “Aola and Chopper didn’t give you any trouble, did they? They don’t really get along. I think Chopper is jealous,” Hera said with a laugh.

Rex hesitated to say anything, but evidently his face gave him away (he really missed always having a helmet on sometimes), because Hera’s face grew concerned.

“Oh no, what happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Rex.”

Rex ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Well… Chopper sort of locked Aola out in the rain.”

Hera sighed, and put a hand to her face. “Of course he did.”

“It’s all okay now, and I think he feels bad about it.”

“Well that’s something.”

Hera looked up, and then over at the clock. “It’s late, I should let you go home. Thank you so much, Rex, really. You’re a lifesaver.”

Rex shrugged. “No problem.”

Hera hugged him again and after some quick goodbyes and goodnights, Rex stepped outside to go home, thinking the whole way about when would be the next time he gets to take care of Jacen Syndulla.

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of notes:
> 
> "Aola" is a Twi'lek name meaning "flower" (according to Wookieepedia at least).
> 
> "Duststat" is not technically a real thing, but sand-vacuums on Tatooine are called "sandstats" so I used that same sort of naming convention for in-home vacuum cleaner.
> 
> I hope you liked the story!


End file.
